This winter has been brutal for us as far as snow and ice is concerned. The schools are all closed again today and I’ve lost count as to just how many snow days this is…eight? Nine? The hard part is that it has either been too cold to go out in it (truly negative temperatures) or we’ve had just-enough snow/ice to cancel school and make the roads unbearable but not-enough snow to really have a great sledding/snowman-making kind of snow day. Which means we are often stuck inside. All day.
So when the school delays and closings were once again going across the television screen last night I started to panic. Another day home? Stranded in the house? ALL DAY?!?!? How on earth would I entertain them now? Don’t get me wrong. My kids do a pretty good job playing by themselves and keeping themselves busy. But not all day. I need at least 1-2 “surprises” on these days to keep us all sane and to keep me from opening the wine before noon.
Then I remembered I had some extra balloons left over in my party supplies. And the kids keep asking me over and over and over to help them build a blanket fort. A few minutes later, I had created this in our basement rec room. Surely it will keep them busy for an hour or so…right?
Are you looking for new ideas to keep your kids entertained indoors on a snow day?
Here are some of our favorite activities to keep us busy on a cold snowy day. Most of them just need a few supplies you will already have around the house. Or take note and start stocking up for the next snow day. February has only just begun.
Tissue Paper Crafts
Grab a stack of tissue paper and some glue and let them go crazy. Let your kids create their own art projects using tissue paper.
Decorate Snow Trees
This is normally a craft I let the kids do in December so that they are creating their own Christmas trees. However, let’s say you did purchase the supplies, but forgot to actually complete the craft and now it’s February. I see this in our near future without tinting the icing green. Or maybe the kids can make them look more like snowmen. I honestly don’t care as long as it keeps them busy.
Play-Doh
I repeat for the 10000000 time…if you are getting Play-Doh out more than every 6-8 weeks, you are doing it wrong. HA! I already used this snow day activity last week. I had not gotten it out since before Christmas so the kids were entertained for about 3 HOURS.
Forts and/or Balloons
Kids love both. End of story.
Decorate a Wall
Sounds crazy and simple at the same time. Ever since my kids have discovered painter’s tape, they ask to hang things on the wall daily. So I finally caved and just dedicated a wall in our foyer to their artwork. Usually they like to create a scene together. This week it was a Butterfly Ball complete with butterflies, a sun, a tree, a campfire and a mean orange dragonfly. I’m still not sure about the whole story that goes with it…but it was intense. Charlotte and Henry acted out part of it – wings and all!
Unusual Craft Supplies
Whenever I want to keep my kids busy with arts and crafts on a day like this I try to introduce something new to the equation. This morning it was the paper size. Something so simple yet so intriguing to them. I happen to have a flip chart at home and gave each one a large piece of flip chart paper. I also told them they could only use stamps and crayons. All three of them have been working on their masterpiece for over an hour (how else do you think I’m writing this?). You don’t have flip chart paper? Look at your kids’ art supplies and add something new – stickers, pom poms, popsicle sticks, Q-tips, cotton balls, etc. But only ONE thing at a time so you have something new next time.
Below you can see Stella made some people out of tongue depressors the doctor gave her last week while she was being tested for strep. He drew faces on them and she kept them and created a scene for the couple once we were home. Then she ripped them back off of the paper so she could play with them some more. He immediately went bald!
There are numerous other suggestions, pins on Pinterest, etc. about what to do on a snow day. Dance parties, games to play, scavenger hunts, baking, etc. Hopefully the above will at least give you one new idea to keep tucked away for when you need it most.
How do you entertain your kids on snow days?
